My Osteopath send me this brilliant video link on Mindbody Medicine – Living Proof Stories of Hope which has been put together by some patients to help to better educate the general public but in particular the medical profession about how these conditions often need a different approach.
He was sure that I would find it interesting.
I found it quite mind blowing and I just wished I had shared it during Pain Awareness Month in September. Check out Mindbody Medicine- Living Proof Stories of Hope after you have read some information about it below.
The introduction is from Charli, a 24-year-old biochemistry student from London, who shares her moving story of recovery from over two years of chronic pain. She describes the science behind the ‘mindbody’ approach to calming her nervous system, and her hopes that medical practitioners will start to bring the vital link between emotions and physical symptoms more into their practice.
It is their first in an anticipated series of short films which will profile a range of different chronic conditions and medically unexplained symptoms, primarily to help the medical profession better understand this approach to health.
Their aim is to illustrate how so often the root of these conditions actually lies in the brain, and that once this is understood and accepted by the patient, a resolution can be found through working on our emotions and thought patterns.
Their website supports GPs and other medical professionals in the UK in their treatment of patients with persistent chronic pain or other chronic symptoms, including ‘Medically Unexplained Symptoms’ (MUS). It aims to increase medical professionals’ understanding of the role of the brain and the mind in these chronic conditions, and to introduce a range of low cost, easy-to-access, scientifically-evidenced educational and treatment resources.
The NHS UK website itself recognises that ‘medically unexplained symptoms are common, accounting for up to 45% of all GP appointments and half of all new visits to hospital clinics in the UK’. Such patients can often be a great source of frustration for GPs as the real cause is not yet widely understood and effective treatments are not taught within mainstream medicine.
The mindbody approach is easily integrated into day-to-day practice with patients, with the goal being to alleviate chronic symptoms, rather than just helping the patient manage them. Practitioners who are already incorporating this approach report that including an inquiry into possible psychosocial causes of chronic pain and MUS at the start of the diagnostic process is usually well accepted by patients as part of a “whole person” approach to their care.
They recognise that there are already a lot of high quality resources out there for individual patients to learn from, particularly in relation to pain-based conditions, and see no point in reinventing the wheel. It is our hope that by helping to educate and inform the health practitioners who are seeing these patients on a daily basis we will over time leverage a broader impact. Their long-term aim is to reduce the number of NHS patient visits relating to chronic pain and MUS in the UK, in turn freeing up time for our medical professionals to focus on those with acute needs.
The information in this website has been checked for accuracy by their medical advisory team, comprised of health professionals operating in the UK and in the US.
I will write further about the mindbody experience in another post as I think you need to see the video first to understand the technique.
Source: Mind Body Medicine
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